Bednar, Tortorella meet again in Western Conference Final

DENVER -- Jared Bednar and John Tortorella once worked in the same organization, Bednar in the minor leagues, Tortorella in the NHL. Bednar got to know Tortorella back then, and Tortorella thought about adding Bednar to his coaching staff.

Now they’re opponents in the Western Conference Final, the 54-year-old Bednar leading the Colorado Avalanche, the 67-year-old Tortorella the Vegas Golden Knights, with Game 1 at Ball Arena on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Each is trying to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in his career, and each is effusive about the other.

“‘Torts’ is an elite coach,” Bednar said. “He is. He’s an elite people person. He’s a phenomenal guy.”

Tortorella called Bednar “one of the top coaches in the League” and a “great person.”

The story goes back to 2015-16. Bednar was coaching Lake Erie, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Tortorella was in his first season behind the Columbus bench.

Bednar was in his 14th season in the minor leagues and hadn’t worked in the NHL yet at that point. Tortorella was already a legend who had won the Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 and taken the New York Rangers to the Eastern Conference Final in 2012.

“It’s a busy schedule, obviously, so not like I saw a ton of Torts,” Bednar said. “But I did get to know him a little bit personally and professionally. Like, I don’t know. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I learned from him specifically, but I’ve watched him go about his business. I’ve talked to his assistant coaches quite a bit, and the accountability that he demands within his team is something that we talked about quite a bit.”

While Columbus missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs that season, Lake Erie won the Calder Cup. Tortorella said he knew then about Bednar’s potential from talking to people in the organization and watching what he did with the players.

“I talked to him at the end of the year, I believe it was, because I was filling out a coaching staff,” Tortorella said. “There was no sense in me talking to him, because we knew where he was going to go.”

Bednar became the coach in Colorado on Aug. 25, 2016, two weeks after the abrupt resignation of Patrick Roy. Although the Avalanche went 22-56-4 and finished last in the NHL in his first season, they stuck with him, and it has paid off.

Colorado won Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top regular-season team in 2020-21 and the Stanley Cup in 2022. The Avalanche won the Presidents’ Trophy again this season.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for him, a good man and a very good coach that’s coaching a very good team,” Tortorella said.

After six seasons with the Blue Jackets (2015-21) and three with the Philadelphia Flyers (2022-25), Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy as coach of the Golden Knights on March 29. It was a shocking move, considering Cassidy led Vegas to the Stanley Cup in 2023, but the Golden Knights were 8-15-4 in their past 27 games at the time.

They have gone 15-4-1 since in the regular season and playoffs, finishing the regular season on a 7-0-1 run, then defeating the Utah Mammoth in six games in the first round and the Anaheim Ducks in six games in the second.

Bednar said Tortorella’s strength as a coach is communicating what he needs from each player, or a group of players, and then pushing people out of their comfort zones.

“Like, that’s what he does,” Bednar said. “So, like, they’re playing a similar style. It may be the exact same style as with Bruce, and obviously Bruce got the most out of that team too. They won in 2023. I see this as a little bit maybe of a veteran group that was pretty comfortable through the course of the season, and then they add the coach that’s going to push them out of that comfort zone.

“It’s also timing. Like, veteran team, guys that have won, not in a panic, in the playoffs, wherever we seed, we seed, and then, like, dialing it up at the right time too. … This is who Vegas is. This is a very dangerous, very good hockey team.”

Vegas will be the biggest test Colorado has faced, and vice versa. The Avalanche are 8-1 in the playoffs after sweeping the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and eliminating the Minnesota Wild in five games in the second.

Tortorella said they have been the best team in the NHL “by far.”

“We know what we’re up against,” he said. “We respect them. But we’re going to play. We’ll be there tomorrow night to play. We’ll be prepared, they’ll be prepared, and we’ll see where it all goes.”